The ceremony marks the official opening of the program (Photo: SGGP)
Speaking at the ceremony, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Duong Anh Duc said that, along with the trend of the fourth industrial revolution, innovation and digital transformation activities of countries around the globe happened relatively fast, promoting changes in production and business models as well as creating new values and paving the way for the formation of the digital economy.
Currently, enterprises and state management agencies are pioneering in digital transformation which has considered digital transformation an imperative and inevitable trend to improve production and business efficiency and competitiveness, build a digital government, digital economy, and smart society in the new era.
Vice Chairman Duong Anh Duc speaks at the event (Photo: SGGP)
According to Vice Chairman Duong Anh Duc, city leaders hoped that the program of innovation and digital transformation in Ho Chi Minh City in 2022 will not only make clear the role of the machinery of state in building a new society but also promote government’s role in the orientation of the Southeast Asian country’s innovation activities.
In the first nine months of 2022, Ho Chi Minh City continued to recognize the continuous efforts of innovative businesses, especially in the field of digital transformation to revive the Vietnamese economy after the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the ranking of startup ecosystems of countries in 2022 published by the world's most comprehensive startup ecosystem map and research center (StartupBlink), Vietnam ranked 54th, up 5 positions compared to last year.
In Southeast Asia, Vietnam ranks fifth just behind Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Apart from that, Ho Chi Minh City alone is the city with a dynamic innovation startup ecosystem with a ranking of 179th.
Attendants at the event
Regarding digital transformation activities, administrations in Ho Chi Minh City issued the Directive No. 17 dated August 27, 2022, on promoting digital transformation and building Ho Chi Minh City into a smart city with a focus on main tasks such as improving digital transformation capacity, digital infrastructure development including digital platform development, digital government building, digital economy development.
Up to now, more than 900 units in the city, including state agencies, companies, and non-business organizations have linked electronic documents through an integrated platform and shared data. The fields of transport, health, education and training, environment, urban planning, security and order have also deployed many applications for a better supply of services to city dwellers.
In terms of digital infrastructure development, many typical achievements have been achieved such as the development of 1,304 servers with systems to ensure information security and safety in addition to the connection of 808 points to the head offices, agencies, districts, Thu Duc city and related organizations. Moreover, 1,139 units in the city have been implementing a shared and integrated platform of city data.
Regarding building a shared data warehouse, Ho Chi Minh City has completed digitizing 4 types of civil status books as well as storing over 12.8 million records. In respect of the urban management database and maps, HCMC has deployed and integrated data on drainage systems, urban lighting systems, green park systems, and electricity data.
In the last three months of the year, HCMC will focus on key digital transformation tasks such as implementing the city's information and reporting system, deploying a set of indicators to evaluate the digital transformation of agencies in Ho Chi Minh City, supporting smartphones for poor households and households in difficult circumstances. Furthermore, the city will provide training for staff in science and technology units and improve the global innovation index (GII).
